Friday, 13 December 2013

Most water is pitiful, it's either contaminated with chlorine/fluorine, or is very poor in minerals after being cleaned/filtered. Here I purpose the ultimate solution (pun intended), for home-made mineral water.

Recipe:

~2L distilled or very pure water

~200mg silicia

~150mg magnesium citrate

1/2tsp sea salt, eg himalayan pink salt

1/2tsp low-sodium salt (66% KCl)

[or 1/3tsp no-sodium salt + 2/3tsp sea salt]

2tbsp lemon juice

2tbsp distilled/white vinegar

Optional:

200ug lithium orotate

1 drop Lugol's solution, 3-7% (1.5-3.5mg iodine)

Rational:

Start with very pure or distilled water to minimise toxins/contaminants.

Silica, used to remove excess aluminium, set at similar levels to Fuji water which is shown in studies to be effective.

Magnesium, needed for over 300 enzymes, most people are very deficient in this mineral due to soil depletion, diluting it in water is a great way to increase intake.

Salts (sea and low-sodium), these provide the electrolytes sodium and potassium, the sea salt provides trace minerals including a bit of magnesium.

Lemon juice and vinegar, these improve the taste and absorption of water, blunt glycaemic responds (stops high blood sugar peaks), and also remove excess iron.

Lithium, for mood support. Populations with water low in lithium are more prone to violent crimes and suicides.

Iodine, needed for thyroid health and prevention of certain cancers, set a base therapeutic level; if you eat seaweed then this isn't needed though.

If anyone has anything else they think should be in the mineral water, then feel free to comment below or send me an email :)

Update (20/12/13) - Version 2:

Mineral water #0: Water Base

2,000ml distilled or very pure water

2tbsp vinegar, white/distilled

2tbsp lemon juice

1-2tsp Himalayan pink salt or similar

200mg silica / silicic acid

200ug lithium oratate (optional)

1.5-3.5mg iodine (1 drop 3-7% Lugol's solution)

Mineral Water #1: Magnesium

315mg magnesium citrate (1/2tsp powder)

250-500ml mineral water #0

Mineral Water #2: Vitamin C

2.5g vitamin C / ascorbic acid

250-500ml mineral water #0

Update (21/12/13) - version 2.1: Due to acidity issues with my teeth last night, always add some bicarbonate of soda (bicarb) in equal amounts to the ascorbic acid.

All can be sweetened/flavoured if desired. Drinking one of #1/2 plus two plain #0s, results in exactly my original recipe, minus the low/no-sodium salt which I am removing because I feel the potassium isn't that critical really.

Why the split? For better timing of nutrients, for example drink #1 before bed. #2 is optional, drink #0 through the day.

What to do if you can't filter crappy water (thanks for the reminder Raphi!):

Chlorine: boil water and allow to cool to room temperature, the chlorine will off-gas, so best to place outside or by open window to cool.

Sunday, 8 December 2013

We've talked previously about how
important good glutathione levels are, so here we'll talk about how
to boost them naturally and also with supplements. First a quick
review of how glutathione is made:

First methionine is converted to
homocysteine, via methyl acceptors (opposite of donors).

Next homocysteine is converted to
cysteine via vitamin B6 with the addition of serine.

Cysteine combines with glycine and glutamate, using selenium
to make glutathione.

Notice red meat and eggs come up
multiple times, this means they're very good foods to include in your
diet if you want to boost glutathione production. But the other
components are equally important, so brink your gelatin-rich broth
and eat your kidneys/brazil nuts.

Ok, now you're eating everything you need to make glutathione,
lets make sure you make as much as possible. Methods for doing this
include:

N-acetyl-cysteine: this is a
special 'locked up' form of cysteine that really helps boost
glutathione production. Never supplement normal cysteine as bacteria
tend to get to it first and use it for their own reproduction.
Suggested dose: ~600mg.

Milk thistle/Silymarin: this is a
herb (and its active ingredient) that helps the liver to work
properly, boosting its functions, including... you guessed it,
making glutathione. Suggested dose: 100-200mg silymarin. This
supplement is boosted when taken at the same time as choline, so eat
some egg yolks with it for maximum effect.

As we can see, both diets are strong
glutathione producers. But I don't recommend a diet of JUST red meat
steaks for many other reasons already stated in this blog, but
glutathione production is not one of my concerns with such a diet. Bare in mind the rib-eye diet has a lot more protein overall too (~170g versus ~100g), so has more of the critical amino acids just from bulk.

Wednesday, 4 December 2013

I'm currently writing a book on nutrition, with my good friend Danny Albers of Primal North assisting. It's called 'Inner Wolf Unchained', with a subtitle of 'Eat and Train like a Wolf to Get Healthy and Conquer Survival of the Fittest'.

It will cover our evolution in Africa, and how it essentially makes us fur-less wolves; it examines from the base up what we need and don't need in our diet; it looks at the latest science to understand what amounts/ratios of macronutrients and micronutrients we need; it draws this all together into a simple and easy to follow diet framework; it looks at the science of exercise and what forms are best for us; it looks at what supplements one should take based on what they don't eat to ensure complete nutrition for optimal health. The book will include plenty of meal plans and recipes too.

Here's an extract:
"There are certain nutrients we must get from our diet, such as
essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, fat- and water-soluble
vitamins, macro, trace, and ultra-trace minerals, and energy itself.

There are many nutrients the body requires but can make for
itself, but only partially so, such as glucose (with heavy exercise),
fat, choline, co-enzyme Q10, semi-essential amino acids, and many
others.

Then there are substances in our food that negatively affect our
health, either by blocking nutrients or doing direct damage,
including fructose, gluten, excessive blood glucose, linoleic acid,
anti-nutrients such as phytic acid, tannins, and many other
phytochemicals.

We must balance these three aspects together in order to achieve
maximum health and wellness."